Transmission failed, completely disengaged. No warning. Had to be towed. Required a $2500.00 complete overhaul. Very low miles on this vehicle, always properly maintained.
Mazda MPV transmission failure problems
68 of the 914 owner complaints about the Mazda MPV describe complete transmission failure, most of them for the 2002 model year.
- owner complaints
- 68
- worst model year
- 2002
- typical repair cost reported
- $3,500
- typical mileage
- 66,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
Slipping 4Jerking 3Harsh shifting 3Won't shift 2Stalling 2Knocking 2Check engine light 2
Trouble codes mentioned
P0752 1
What owners say
Vehicle was lurching, no warning light was on. It took a while to figure out the rear coil was bad. We spent $1200 getting a tune up and that didn't fix the problem took a while to figure it out. Also, the transmission failed on this vehicle completely at 55 thousand miles. We had taken it in 3 times before it failed and they said nothing was wrong with it.
Transmission failed in 2008, had it replaced and it failed again in two weeks. Van drove fine until summer 2011, when I noticed transmission problems again. Took the van to a dealership to have it fixed again, but was told there was nothing wrong with it. Finally, on 14 march 2012, the transmission stopped pulling and will not engage past 2nd gear. This is the third transmission at a cost of $2700 each, puts a big strain on a family. This issue needs to be recalled and mazda needs to be held accountable.
I was driving my 2002 mazda mpv minivan with 91,000 miles on it on the freeway and when I tried to accelerate, it would not shift into higher gear. It seemed to go into neutral and I began loosing speed. I have done all maintenance as was suggested in the handbook by mazda. In fact, mazda has done all of the maintenance. This was incredibly dangerous as there were no warning signs. I was told by mazda that it needed a new transmission and mazda refused to accept any responsibility for this even though it is a known issue with this model and year.
We have a 2002 mazda mpv (first owners) with 104k; followed all manufacturers recommendations for maintenance. Died on the way to work this morning, had to be towed to shop. They want 6000$ to replace transmission (with a rebuilt one). I'm shopping around. The car isn't worth 1/2 that for trade-in. We have had the trans module replaced about 3 years ago.
Complete transmission failure at 67,000 miles in our 2002 mazda mpv2. All routine maintenance had been performed. I was driving on the highway (thankfully close to home) at the start of rush hour and was unable to maintain 40mph - the car would not shift down, the revs increased, but I had no acceleration. I was able to get most of the way home before the transmission started audibly whining and came to a complete stop. My 10 year old and I pushed it into the side of the road. We had the car towed to the local transmission shop who said we would need the transmission replaced. Mazda would not consider any out-of-warranty help unless we had the vehicle towed to a mazda dealership (at a cost of $100 for us) and diagnosed there (another $100). Having done this, they said no help would be made available. They said this was at the discretion of the area service manager, but refused to give his contact details so we could not discuss this with him. We have researched this problem on this website, looking at problems listed under automatic transmission. The numbers of complete transmission failures needing replacement are as follows for the specific years: 2000 = 1 probable failure; 2001 = 1 probable failure; 2002 = 40 complete failures; 2003 = 1 failure; 2004 = 2 failures; 2005 = 0 failures; 2006 = 0 failures. It seems clear to us that there is a problem with the 2002 mazda mpv transmission. People should realize that mazda are not standing behind their product when there is an obvious problem like this. What will it take to get mazda to accept some responsibility? It looks like this will cost nearly $4000 to fix. I don't think we'll be buying another mazda ..ever.
Transmission failure with no warning, all scheduled maintenance completed.
2002 mazda mpv with 39,000 miles. Transmission totally failed on us55 halfway between bloomington, il and chicago. Had to have car towed back to chicago. Transmission has to be replaced. This is my second one. When I bought car in 2002 transmission failed in 1st week of ownership and had to be replaced.
Transmission failed in my 2002 mazda mpv at 111k miles. After reading several stories online that sound identical to mine, I felt compelled to file a complaint. I was travelling on a major interstate with 5 cubscouts and the transmission completely failed, leaving us stranded on the side of the road. Transmission gave no warning that it was about to fail, other than a few rough shifts from time to time. Mechanic checked fluid levels and pressure of transmission and all checked out okay after incident. This was not driver or maintenance error. The transmission will not engage at all in drive, low gears or reverse.
On the freeway, my transmission failed and has to be replaced. My car only has 42,000 miles.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Mazda MPV transmission failure
Which Mazda MPV years have complete transmission failure problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2002 (34 complaints), 1991 (7 complaints) and 1992 (7 complaints).
How much does it cost to fix complete transmission failure on the Mazda MPV?
Owners who mentioned a price put the repair at about $3,500 (median of 14 complaints that include a dollar amount). Costs vary with mileage, warranty and where the work is done.
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